Breast-feeding your baby

Sitting or lying

You can sit or lie down to breast-feed.

How to breast-feed

Breast-feed your baby as follows:

• Put the baby’s belly against yours.
• Bring the baby toward you with their nose at the height of your nippleNippleSmall knob in the middle of a person's breast. Women and men have…Read more.
• The baby opens his/her mouth and licks the nipple.
• The nipple and a large part of the areolaAreolaDark circle around the nipple.Read more are in their mouth.
• The baby’s lips are curled outwards. The baby sucks.

Signs that your baby is hungry

In the beginning, most babies feed about every 2-3 hours, then about every 4-6 hours. However, every baby is different. Feed the baby when they ask for it.

If your baby is hungry, they can give you 1 or more of the following signals:

• moving mouth and tongue;
• licking or sucks hands;
• being agitated;
• crying.

Healthy breast-milkBreast-milkMilk from a woman's breast. Women can feed their baby with breast-milk.Read more

To produce healthy breast-milk for your baby:

• Do not smoke;
• Do not drink alcohol;
• Do not take drugs;
• Do not take medicines without consulting a general practitioner or midwifeMidwifeA trained person who helps a pregnant woman before, during and after delivery.…Read more;
• If you have HIV, most doctors in the Netherlands recommend baby or infant formula instead of breastfeeding. This eliminates the riskRiskPossibility that something unpleasant may happen, for example a disease.Read more of transmitting HIVHIVA virus (human immunodeficiency virus) that affects the natural immune system. When someone…Read more. But a mother who has HIV and a suppressed virusVirusVery small particle that can invade the body. It multiplies easily in the…Read more may breastfeed under the supervision of a doctorDoctorSomeone who is trained to cure sick people. Doctors can prescribe medicines. A…Read more. For this, consult your doctor / HIV practitioner.

If you cannot breast-feed, there are other ways to bond with your baby.

Breast-feedingBreast-feedingA woman can breast-feed her baby with milk from her own breast, rather…Read more and contraceptionContraceptionMeans and methods of preventing pregnancy. Condoms and the contraceptive pill are examples…Read more

You are fertileFertileIf you are fertile, you are able to have a baby (if you…Read more again around 3 weeks after deliveryDeliveryThe process of giving birth to a baby.Read more. You can get pregnant if you have unprotected sexSexAll acts that can sexually arouse you. Sex is more than sexual intercourse.…Read more, even if you have not yet menstruated.

Breast-feeding is a form of natural family planning. However, it only works under the following conditions:

• If applied correctly, the method only works during the first 6 months following delivery. After 6 months it is better to use a method of contraception.
• You must only breast-feed your baby. This means the baby only gets breast-milk. There should never be more than 4 hours between feedings during the day and 6 hours between feedings during the night.
• You should not express milk. Expressing milk is squeezing the breast by hand or using a pump to suck milk from the breast.

If you do not meet these conditions, use a method of contraception. In the months that you are breast-feeding, it is best to use a condom or the mini-pilll, , contraceptive injectionContraceptive injectionInjection with a hormone in the arm or buttock to prevent pregnancy (a…Read more or contraceptive implantContraceptive implantA way of preventing pregnancy (a method of contraception). The contraceptive implant is…Read more. You can get pregnant directly after giving birth. Talk to your midwife or doctor about this. They can prescribe or place contraceptives.